ALCOHOL- and drug-related crime is putting a strain on an under-strength police force. Chief Officer George Le Page said the failure to boost numbers to the authorised 177 was a major disappointment of his first year in the post.

At the end of last year, the force had an establishment of 158, four down on the end of 2002.

‘One of my biggest disappointments was that we were slightly down on the figures. I am very optimistic with potential recruits that are in the pipeline that we will have a reasonable increase shortly,’ he said.

Five local officers have been recruited and will be going to training college in the UK in October and 10 trained officers from the UK will arrive in the island in the next few weeks.

Some will be on five-year, some on 15-year licences.

‘I spend so much of my time trying to juggle resources – if we had the officers, we could just get out there and do it. That’s a frustration, we could do so much more,’ said Mr Le Page.

He has told the magazine, Police Review, of the difficulties in recruiting officers.

Mr Le Page regretted that the force was unable to undertake a large number of community projects in which he would like to be involved in because of the need to maintain adequate cover.

‘Clearly the major issue we have is recruitment and we would like to do so much more, particularly in the community, and with the amount of new legislation and high-tech crime is putting enormous pressure on the front line,’ said Mr Le Page.

The resulting administration work means that officers have less time to spend on the beat trying to prevent crime.

In his report, published in detail in the Guernsey Press today, Mr Le Page said that he was aware that publishing crime figures could inadvertently increase the fear of crime, but that it was important to remember that Guernsey was a relatively safe place in which to live.

The 2003 report focuses on the fall in reported crime and the increase in the detection rate, keeping Guernsey one of the safest low-crime areas in the British Isles.

Mr Le Page welcomed the strong stance taken by the island’s magistrates last year, particularly for recidivist crimes such as burglary and car theft.

‘We have been quite successful in targeting these people and bringing them before the courts, where quite strong sentences have been imposed, and I believe this combination has had a direct effect on last year’s figures,’ said Mr Le Page.

Reported crime fell, from just under 3,500 in 2002 to 2,994 last year, the first decline in four years.

The police chief believes this is a true reflection of the situation, rather than people not bothering to report crimes.

‘It is an unmeasurable area, but we actively encourage people to report crime and the vast majority of crime is reported, particularly serious crime,’ he said.

‘But we must not lose sight of the fact that a considerable number of criminal offences are discovered by officers during the carrying out of their daily duties.’

The force will soon carry out a survey and one of the questions will ask whether people have been a victim of crime and, if so, whether they reported it.

Mr Le Page added that much of the credit should be given to his predecessor, Mike Wyeth.

The current chief officer believes that the force is facing considerable challenges, but that policing has already changed more in the last five years than the preceding 20.

Mr Le Page joined the force as a cadet in 1967, and became a constable in 1970.